Chapter 1569 – Balanced on a Knife

News of the damaged channels reached Solant as she settled into the command post, though she didn’t expect to hear it from the Eldest.

[How are you communicating with them? Are you really able to extend a mind-bridge that far into the fortress?]

[Ahhh,] the Eldest says, evasively. [Sure. Let’s go with that. No, you cannot use me as a message relay.]

[I wouldn’t dream of it,] Solant lied. [Thanks for letting me know about the issue. I will dispatch the build teams as quickly as possible.]

A quick word to the messengers was enough to send several scouts running, and allowed Solant to turn her attention back to the Eldest.

[You aren’t using a mind bridge to talk to me…] she said evenly.

[It’s a new secret technique I invented.]

[Can you explain it?]

[It’s too complicated.]

[I could ask Brilliant to investigate.]

[I will not. I repeat. Will not! Be your relay station.]

[My thoughts never went in such a direction,] Solant continued to lie.

The Eldest could communicate with them without having to use a mind bridge? This was crucial information! What were the limitations? Range? Knowing the Eldest, it would be absurdly powerful, more so than she expected.

[Just focus on the main issue,] the Eldest snapped. [Things seem to be falling apart in there! Has anyone checked on the wall?]

[It’s happening as we speak.]

[Gah. Monsters keep coming. Try and sort things out, I’ll be here on the platform if you need me.]

[And if I need you to relay a message?]

Silence.

Clacking her mandibles thoughtfully, Solant moved to inspect the model of the fortress hanging in the centre of the command post. What had once been an expanding map of the myriad tunnels investigated by the Colony had now grown to include a detailed model of the fortress itself, bisected in several places to allow access to the interior. Right now, generals were crawling over it placing markers to indicate the sections of channel that were damaged.

She’d hoped that the influx of mana from the vents would be manageable with what they’d put in place, the modeling had suggested as much, but reality often failed to live up to expectations. Victory was determined in planning and practice, this was an idiom that she lived by, and in this case she had been no less diligent.

There were backup containers, release valves, and if all else failed, they could cease taking in mana from the platforms for a period of time, though that would hurt their accumulation of energy. Calm and collected as always, she directed traffic inside the command post, issuing orders and taking in information, calculating all angles in her logistical mind.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.